UK House builder / Extension

[TeeDee]

Has anyone on the forum with UK ( Thanks other parts of the world but your experience of building a house in X country won't be useful ) built a house from scratch ( Self Developer ) or built a very large extension onto a pre-existing structure


I'm particularly interested in anyone that has completed ( or has experience ) of a Potton style kit package timber frame vs a conventional build.

Also interested to hear from those that struggled with the notion of tearing down a pre-existing structure and replacing it with new ( Claim the VAT back ) as opposed to extending the dwelling which can pose its own problems.

Mentally I do find it difficult to justify tearing down a serviceable home to replace with something new but it seems to be justified by builders that they are then starting with a blank and known canvas.

Any directly related UK experience or views appreciated. TIA

 

[saxonaxe]

Not sure if this is really relevant but I did 85% of the structural work in putting two bedrooms and a bathroom into the loft of my bungalow.
A long time ago, 40+ years, so regulations and controls will be much changed.
I removed the tiles from the rear half of the roof, then a qualified Carpenter cut the exposed boards/roof trusses and built a long Dormer frame the length of the rear roof. I did all the interior stud work, plaster boarding, ceilings, flooring, and plumbing for bathroom and radiators, then hang tiled the new Dormer and flat roofed it.
A couple of points.
Family life was able to continue downstairs with surprisingly little disturbance really, once I had sheeted the open Dormer with temporary Tarpaulins we were waterproof (mid summer)
If I remember correctly I had three tickets from the local Council, Building Regs: Inspector. First for initial start, a second visit and ok ticket once the Dormer and main support beams were in, and a final visit when I had walled and floored all the new rooms.
A mate did the electrics and there was no official inspection of this work required (qualified Electrician obviously)
There was very little official interference, just the three Building Inspector visits mentioned. Health and safety was yet to be invented, I re-roofed the bungalow using an abseiling harness borrowed from work for the difficult bits.

The work was a great success for a couple of reasons, A) My Daughter could encamp in the new bathroom for hours at a time while the rest of the family still had facilities downstairs. B) My son's attempts with a guitar at copying solos from Megadeth or AC/DC were muted to faint, mating Tom Cat howlings.
All in all well worth the hard graft and expense....

 

[Stew]

I hear you with not being keen on knocking down a usable home but if it’s affordable/practical then at least you would have the knowledge of all the intricacies and having it at the spec you want (in theory)

So many parts of this house and buildings I manage it’s a fit bit of head scratching to work out why this is like that or where that thing is going.

 

[TeeDee]

There was very little official interference, just the three Building Inspector visits mentioned. Health and safety was yet to be invented, I re-roofed the bungalow using an abseiling harness borrowed from work for the difficult bits.

You lucky lucky man... A land without the clipboard and hi-viz jacket police.... could a time ever have existed ?!?!

 

[TeeDee]

I hear you with not being keen on knocking down a usable home but if it’s affordable/practical then at least you would have the knowledge of all the intricacies and having it at the spec you want (in theory)

So many parts of this house and buildings I manage it’s a fit bit of head scratching to work out why this is like that or where that thing is going.

I know , but it just seems so counter intuitive - the notion is almost abhorrent to me but seems to make the most financial sense in some ways.

Guess I was looking for some personal testimonies of those that have 'done' after weighing it all up.

 

[Tony]

We've built a fair size extension over about a year and a bit (ground work was done 12 years ago!) and we've been in it for a couple of years, it's about 12.5x5.5mt with attic trusses. The original plan was a bigger living room, a couple bedrooms (lots of kids!) and an open attic space, that changed to a separate lounge, master bedroom with ensuite. The attic's not done yet due to costs, although it is all insulated and mostly boarded.

Timber frame with external block and then composite cladding. I should have put the cladding onto the timber frame and skipped the blockwork, but hey!

I've always looked down my nose at timber framing because of experience of working on houses built in the 70' and 80's. I researched and came to the conclusion that modern timber framing/panels when done right could be very good, I want to go SIP's but they were cost prohibitive, was going to block it myself but a mate of mine offered to help, he did a fair amount of the timber framing and trusses + tying them into the existing structure (he's a pro at framing with his own business so could bring in a couple extra guys now and then), got another guy to do the blockwork, another to roof it and we've done the majority of everything else.

Ended up going timber frame because I've a mate that can help keeping costs down and although I used to be a chippie I'm out of date, I can get really good insulation (150mm) in place, it was quick getting the main structure up. Ultimately it was costs that decided me and how well I've been able to insulate it and the ease that I could work on it myself, woods so much nicer to work with than blocks!

Umm, manage to make this quite picture heavy!
























Solar panels used to be in the garden